1993 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes

	43rd King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes; Ascot, 24 July 1993
	won by Opera House (GB)

Last updated June 19, 2019

The 1993 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes was a horse race held at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday 24 July 1993. It was the 43rd running of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been unchanged since at least classical antiquity.

Ascot Racecourse horse racing venue in England

Ascot Racecourse is a British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 13 of Britain's 36 annual Group 1 horse races.

The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 211 yards, and it is scheduled to take place each year in July.

The winner was Sheikh Mohammed's Opera House, a five-year-old bay horse trained at Newmarket, Suffolk by Michael Stoute and ridden by Michael Roberts. Roberts had previously won the race on Mtoto in 1988, whilst Sheikh Mohammed had won with Belmez in 1990. Michael Stoute was also recording his second win in the race after Shergar (1981).

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and ruler of the Emirate of Dubai. Since his accession in 2006, after the death of his brother Sheikh Maktoum, he has undertaken reforms in the UAE's government, starting with the UAE Federal Government Strategy in April 2007. In 2010 he launched the UAE vision 2021 with the aim of making the UAE 'one of the best countries in the world' by 2021.

Opera House was a British thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from October 1990 until November 1993 he ran eighteen times and won eight races. Opera House was best known for his performances as a five-year-old in 1993, when he won three Group One races, including the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and was named European Champion Older Horse. Retired to stud in Japan, he developed into a top-class sire in the country, supplying seven-time Grade 1 hero T M Opera O, four-time Group 1 winner Meisho Samson and multiple Group scorer Miyabi Ranveli.

Bay is a hair coat color of horses, characterized by a brown body color with a black mane, tail, ear edges, and lower legs. Bay is one of the most common coat colors in many horse breeds.

The race

The race attracted a field of ten runners: eight from the United Kingdom, one from Ireland and one from Germany. The favourite for the race was the undefeated three-year-old colt Commander in Chief who had won both the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby. The Irish contender was Desert Team, a three-year-old colt who had won the Princess of Wales's Stakes, whilst Germany was represented by Platini, whose wins included the Grosser Preis von Berlin and the Gran Premio di Milano. The other leading contenders included the four-year-old filly User Friendly who had been named European Horse of the Year for 1992, Tenby, the beaten favourite for the Epsom Derby, White Muzzle, winner of his last five races including the Derby Italiano and Opera House, the five-year-old winner of the Coronation Cup and the Eclipse Stakes and the Hardwicke Stakes winner Jeune (later to win the Melbourne Cup). Commander in Chief headed the betting at odds of 7/4 ahead of User Friendly (11/4), with Opera House and Tenby on 8/1 and White Muzzle at 9/1.

Commander in Chief (1990–2007) was a British thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted just over three months in the spring and summer of 1993 he won five of his six races, most notably the Derby at Epsom and the Irish Derby at the Curragh. He was the first Derby winner since Morston in 1973 not to have raced as a two-year-old. Furthermore, the Racing Post had not even included him in their list of horses for the 1993 Ten-to-Follow on the flat competition. Commander in Chief was voted the 1993 Cartier Champion Three-year-old Colt.

The Derby Stakes, officially the Investec Derby, popularly known as the Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey over a distance of one mile, four furlongs and 6 yards, on the first Saturday of June each year.

Irish Derby Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland

The Irish Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs, and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July.

User Friendly took the early lead from Tenby, Desert Team, Commander in Chief, Drum Taps and Tenby. User Friendly maintained her advantage into the straight, where she led from Drum Taps and Commander in Chief, with Opera House moving up to challenge on the outside. Commander in Chief briefly took the advantage but was overtaken by Opera House with two furlongs left to run as White Muzzle came with a strong run on the outside. Opera House maintained his advantage to win by one and a half lengths with White Muzzle getting the better of Commander in Chief by a short head for second place. There was a gap of ten lengths back to User Friendly who finished fourth ahead of Drum Taps, Environment Friend, Desert Team and Tenby, with Jeune and Platini bringing up the rear.^[1]

Race details

Sponsor: De Beers
Purse: £438,882; First prize: £270,259
Surface: Turf
Going: Good
Distance: 12 furlongs
Number of runners: 10
Winner's time: 2:33.94

De Beers Group is an international corporation that specialises in diamond exploration, diamond mining, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is currently active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea mining. It operates in 35 countries and mining takes place in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Canada. Until the start of the 21st century, De Beers effectively had total control over the diamond market as a monopoly. Competition has since dismantled the complete monopoly, though the De Beers Group still sells approximately 35% of the world's rough diamond production through its global sightholder and auction sales businesses.

Full result

Pos.	Marg.	Horse (bred)	Age	Jockey	Trainer (Country)	Odds
1		Opera House (GB)	5	Michael Roberts	Michael Stoute (GB)	8/1
2	1½	White Muzzle (GB)	3	John Reid	Peter Chapple-Hyam (GB)	9/1
3	shd	Commander in Chief (GB)	3	Pat Eddery	Henry Cecil (GB)	7/4 fav
4	10	User Friendly (GB)	4	George Duffield	Clive Brittain (GB)	11/4
5	nk	Drum Taps (USA)	7	Frankie Dettori	Lord Huntingdon (GB)	20/1
6	1½	Environment Friend (GB)	5	Paul Eddery	N. Wright (GB)	40/1
7	2½	Desert Team (USA)	3	Christy Roche	Jim Bolger (IRE)	66/1
8	½	Tenby (GB)	3	Willie Carson	Henry Cecil (GB)	8/1
9	2½	Jeune (GB)	4	Ray Cochrane	Geoff Wragg (GB)	50/1
10	4	Platini (GER)	4	Mark Rimmer	Bruno Schütz (GER)	14/1

Abbreviations: nse = nose; nk = neck; shd = head; hd = head; dist = distance; UR = unseated rider

Winner's details

Further details of the winner, Opera House

Sex: Stallion
Foaled: 24 February 1988
Country: United Kingdom
Sire: Sadler's Wells; Dam: Colorpin (High Top)
Owner: Sheikh Mohammed
Breeder: Meon Valley Stud

Sadler's Wells was a thoroughbred racehorse who was bred in the United States but raced in Europe, winning the 1984 Irish 2000 Guineas, Eclipse Stakes and Phoenix Champion Stakes. He also finished second in the Prix du Jockey Club and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. He was named the champion miler in France, and was rated sixth overall in the International Classification for 1984.

High Top (1969–1988) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1972. High Top was one of the leading British two-year-olds of 1971 when his successes included a defeat of a strong field tin the Observer Gold Cup. After winning a trial race on his first appearance of 1972 he led from the start to beat the future Epsom Derby winner Roberto in the 2000 Guineas. His classic win was the first of seventeen British classic winners ridden by Willie Carson. High Top never won again but finished a close second in both the Sussex Stakes and the Prix Jacques le Marois. At the end of the year he was retired to stud and became an extremely successful breeding stallion.

Meon Valley Stud is a horse breeding farm, based at Dean Farm, Bishop's Waltham in Hampshire. Founded in 1980 by Egon Weinfeld, it has produced numerous major winners.

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References

↑ "King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes result". Racing Post. 24 July 1993. Retrieved 2014-04-14.

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[1] "King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes result". Racing Post. 24 July 1993. Retrieved 2014-04-14.